NCJ Number
50267
Journal
EVALUATION Volume: 3 Issue: 1-2 Dated: (1976) Pages: 115-138
Date Published
1976
Length
24 pages
Annotation
AN EXPERIMENT DESIGNED BY THE RUSSELL SAGE FOUNDATION TO BRIDGE THE GAP BETWEEN ACADEMICS AND PRACTITIONERS PROFESSIONALLY CONCERNED WITH EVALUATION RESEARCH IS DISCUSSED.
Abstract
A SERIES OF INSERTS CONTAINS REVIEWS AND CRITIQUES OF EVALUATION STUDIES, ASSESSMENTS, AND SHORT METHODOLOGICAL NOTES INTENDED TO INFORM PRACTITIONERS OF ANALYTICAL TECHNIQUES EMERGING IN SCHOLARLY JOURNALS. FEDERAL INITIATIVES MANDATING SYSTEMATIC EVALUATIONS OF LEGISLATIVE PROGRAMS HAVE BROADENED THE INTEREST IN AND URGENCY FOR MORE SOPHISTICATED METHODS OF ANALYSIS. CLOSER ATTENTION IS DIRECTED TOWARD AUDITING AND COST-EFFECTIVENESS EVALUATIONS OF SOCIAL PROGRAMS AND TOWARD THE RELATIVE EFFICIENCY OF CENTRALIZED VERSUS DECENTRALIZED PROGRAM ADMINISTRATION AND ASSOCIATED PROBLEMS OF ACCOUNTABILITY. IT IS HOPED THAT THE CITED MATERIALS WILL INTEGRATE TECHNICAL AND METHODOLOGICAL ADVANCES WITH POLICY AND PROGRAMMATIC ASPECTS OF EVALUATION RESEARCH. THE INSERTS CONCERN A MAJOR FIELD EXPERIMENT IN LAW ENFORCEMENT REFERRED TO AS THE KANSAS CITY PREVENTIVE PATROL EXPERIMENT IN MISSOURI. A PROPOSED REDESIGN OF THE EXPERIMENT FOR USE IN OTHER CITIES IS PRESENTED, ALONG WITH A GUIDE TO THE METHODOLOGICAL LITERATURE ON THE ANALYSIS OF NONEQUIVALENT CONTROL GROUP DESIGNS. CONSIDERATION IS GIVEN TO THE USE OF BALANCED DESIGNS TO DETECT SMALLER RESPONSES THAN ARE POSSIBLE WITH RANDOM DESIGNS, CONTRASTS BETWEEN CONTROLLED EXPERIMENTS AND RELIANCE ON THE ANALYSIS OF CROSS-SECTION DATA IN DETERRENCE LITERATURE, DETERRENCE POLICY ALTERNATIVES, AND ECONOMETRIC STUDIES. REFERENCES ARE INCLUDED.